


Expectations

by TheSwordLesbian



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - No Storm in Arcadia Bay (Life is Strange), F/F, Fluff, Internalized comphet, Kissing, Maximum Victory - Freeform, Mild Gay Panic, Truth or Dare, Uncaring parents, Underage Drinking, When you accidentally find out you're gay, chasefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23499577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwordLesbian/pseuds/TheSwordLesbian
Summary: A game of truth or dare ends up causing more trouble for Victoria than she expected it to.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Victoria Chase, Victoria Chase & Courtney Wagner, Victoria Chase & Taylor Christensen
Comments: 70
Kudos: 228





	1. Its Just a Dare

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so this is my first fic in the Life is Strange fandom. I was initially a Pricefield shipper before I fell in love with Chasefield and now there's no looking back for me!  
> This fic is fully finished and will be updating weekly
> 
> I should also point out that my version of Max is ever so slightly more confident than canon, but just a little.
> 
> Enjoy! <3

**Friday 7:15PM**

Victoria stared out the window at the sunset, the warmth of it bleeding into her as the buzz from the vodka she’d been sipping for the last hour seeped into her bones. Victoria Chase wasn’t really one to sit in her room and drink on a friday evening. Usually she’d be out sneaking into a club, or kicking off another raucous Vortex party. But this afternoon she received an infuriating email from her father’s secretary, of all people, informing her that the photography collage she submitted for her family’s gallery was being turned down in favor of an “up-and-coming new artist from Vancouver”. It burned Victoria so much that her parents wouldn’t even allow their own daughter a place in their Gallery. “That’s what it’s going to be like in the real world Victoria.” she could practically hear her father’s indifference. “Competition’s going to be fierce and you can’t always count on having a guaranteed win unless you submit your best work.” She scoffed to herself. _“Stupid mom and dad,”_ she thought as she took another drink from her glass. _“Couldn’t even call me to tell me themselves, just had Judith send a run of the mill rejection email from the desk of-”_

“Victoria!”

A voice snapped her out of her daydreaming. She turned her head away from the sunset to see Taylor and Courtney both staring at her expectantly. They’d come over to her room to hang out after she texted them about the email. The three of them spent the last hour passing around a bottle of grey goose and bitching about their week. “Wait what?”

The girls turned and looked at each other before looking back at the blonde. “You alright V?” Taylor asked, seeming a little concerned.

“Yeah Tay, I was just thinking about some stuff. What were we talking about again?” Victoria wasn’t sure how long she’d stopped paying attention but she hoped she hadn’t missed too much of the conversation.

Taylor relaxed back into her chair but still looked the tiniest bit worried. “We were playing truth or dare, it’s your turn.”

“Yeah bitch!” Courtney was definitely a little more far gone than the other two girls, “Ante up, truth or dare?”

Victoria fixed a smirk on her face and turned to face her friends more fully before taking a large sip from her glass. “Alright minion, do your worst. Dare.”

Courtney wasn’t expecting that apparently. “Aww shit, I thought you’d say ‘truth’. I was going to ask some kind of embarrassing story or something. I don’t even know what to say for a dare.”

“Well you better think of something.” The tall blonde leaned back against the pillows on her bed. “Or else I win and it’ll be my turn to ask.”

“No no no.” Courtney slurred trying to regain her composure and will her brain into coming up with something suitably dare-worthy. “Gimme a sec Vic.”

Victoria opened her mouth to respond but was suddenly, rudely interrupted by the twangs of a guitar coming from across the hall. “Uggggh” Victoria groaned at the music, glaring at her door and by extension the door across the hall. Fucking Max Caulfield. It’s not enough that she’s stupidly talented with a camera. No, she’s also apparently a natural with a musical instrument too, and she just has to let the rest of the world know. Victoria took another drink and pulled her gaze away from the door long enough to notice the devilish grin that had just spread across Courtney’s face. “Courtney Wagner, do you have something to tell the class?”

The dark haired girl sat up a little straighter in her spot on Victoria’s couch. Clearly very proud of whatever she had come up with. “Victoria Chase. I dare you…”

The blonde cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her drunk friend to finish her unnecessary dramatic pause.

“To kiss Max Caulfield.”

Victoria felt like the floor had fallen out from under her. Her face must have looked like the picture perfect representation of being caught off guard because Courtney started giggling maniacally. “I’m sorry what??” Victoria countered, a little exasperated.

The black-haired girl ceased her giggling to slur out a response. “You heard me. I dare you to walk across the hall and knock on her door and kiss the Hipster Dork of Blackwell. Unless you’re too scaaaaaared to.” 

“I’m not scare-”

“Then you’d look like a chicken in front of allllll these Taylors” she gestured to the other girl in the room and apparently all her alcohol-induced clones as well. Man, Courtney really couldn’t hold her liquor. 

“You don’t have to do this you know, Victoria.” Taylor piped up from her chair covered in pillows. “Its just a stupid game you can just pass on it.”

She looked back and forth between her friends and then back to the door. It wasn’t that big a deal right? Just walk across the hall, kiss the hipster, walk back, and never speak of it again.

“Really V, you can just skip it, it’s fine.” Taylor said, a hint of concern in her voice.

Victoria stood up, set down her glass, smoothed out her shorts and blouse, and marched towards the door. “It's nothing Tay. it’s just a kiss. No big deal. Even if it is Lamefield.” Still though she noticed her heart was beating faster the closer she got to her door. Was she nervous? No, it couldn’t be, it was just a kiss. Victoria had made out with dozens of guys, this would be a cinch. She probably stood up too fast after sitting so curled up on her bed or the vodka was starting to get to her.

As she opened her door she looked down the hall. _“Good”_ she thought, _“no one’s out and about to witness this. And Dana must be gone since her door is closed.”_ Victoria continued towards the room emmenating the admittedly nice guitar music. Pausing briefly before knocking. _“Why am I having trouble breathing? Why is this making me anxious? Is it because she’s a girl?”_ she didn’t remember knocking but judging by the cease in music and the approaching footsteps apparently she had. The door opened and there stood Max Caulfield in all her deer-in-the-headlights, loser hipster glory. Victoria opened her mouth to speak but the words caught in her throat for some reason so they both stood there in silence for a second.

Max spoke up first. “Uh hey, Victoria. What’s u-”

“Kiss me” the taller girl suddenly blurted out.

The brunette looked rightfully stunned, shaking her head after a second, to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, Victoria supposed “Uhhh what...” 

Victoria inhaled a deep breath to recenter herself. “I want you to kiss me.” God why was her heart beating so fast? Did she need to go to the hospital?

Max looked back at her neighbor before peeking her head out the door and looking all around with an air of suspicion “....is this a prank?” 

The blonde was starting to get more than a little frustrated and didn’t want to waste anymore time on this, lest someone come down the hall and see them. “No it’s not a fu-” she paused to reign in her snappiness. “Okay listen. Courtney dared me to kiss you but I’m not going to just stand in your doorway and assault you or something, and I’m not going to back out of the dare so... Will you kiss me Maxine... please?”

The shorter girl stood there staring at Victoria, or almost through her, with her brilliant blue eyes seeming to consider her options. “Okay.”

“Wait really?” Victoria was maybe a little bit surprised that it didn’t take more convincing. 

She shrugged “I mean yeah, as long as you’re not trying to punk me or blackmail me for some reason after.” 

The taller girl was a little… was that relief? Did she feel relieved that this was going so well? ”Okay then. Just like, don’t tell anyone about this.”

Neither girl moved for a minute before Victoria started to get impatient again. “Well???”

“Oh!” Max was shocked back to reality from wherever her train of thought had gone. She cleared her throat and _“Did she just lick her lips? Why is my heart beating so fast?”_ before stepping towards the blonde.

Victoria expected Maxine Caulfield to be a nervous wreck. She expected her to stutter and fumble, and awkwardly press her freckled face into hers. She expected this whole mess to be over quickly, so she could rush back to her room before anyone witnessed the two of them. She didn’t expect Max to step into her space and place her hand on the taller girl’s hip. She didn’t expect to feel the brunette’s other calloused hand on her cheek. She didn’t expect Max to gently pull Victoria towards her, close enough to feel the warmth of her breath on her lips, to see the dusting of freckles across her blushed cheeks. She didn’t expect the cool, tingling mint of Max’s chapstick on her lips. Didn’t expect her eyes to flutter closed. Didn’t expect to sink into Max’s arms. Didn’t expect the sigh that escaped from somewhere within her. Didn’t expect Max to be so good at this. Didn’t expect to enjoy this…

After what felt like an eternity The brunette separated their lips and Victoria inhaled sharply, her breath shuddering. Victoria opened her eyes to see Max Fucking Caulfield’s freckled face with a slight smirk in her still very geniune smile. And suddenly the whole world came rushing back to Victoria all at once. And oh fuck Max Caulfield just kissed her. Like, REALLY kissed her. In the fucking dorm hallway and Victoria had just melted into it. And she needed to leave RIGHT now. 

The blonde pushed the shorter girl away suddenly and stumbled back away from her. “I-... that was… you?...” Victoria seemed to be struggling with her words. She paused briefly to stitch together what little composure she had left. “...thanks.” She about-faced and practically leapt to her room to escape. She threw open her door and the two girls she had completely forgotten about tumbled backwards onto the floor. She briefly looked over her shoulder to see if Max had noticed their potential audience and caught the blue-eyed girl’s small snicker at the situation. Victoria slammed the door closed and almost dove onto her bed burying her face in a pillow.

“Victoria what the fuck just happened???” Taylor shouted. Getting up from her landing spot on the floor. 

Courtney groaned sitting up “she was… They did… I don’t feel good.” Suddenly the black-haired girl clutched her hands over her mouth and started scrambling for the door. Making a breakneck dash for the bathroom.

“Court wait!” Taylor shouted, running after her. “Try to get the toilet and not the sink this time.

The door closed behind them and Victoria was left in silence. Her face still shoved into a pillow. Her skin felt like it was on fire and her lips were tingling. She could still taste Max’s chapstick on her lips. Could still taste… her. And her heart felt like it was about to tapdance its way out of her fucking ribcage. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Bringing her fingertips up to gently touch her lips. _“what the fuck was that kiss…”_ Victoria shoved her pillow down over her face and screamed into it. This was not how she expected her Friday night to go.


	2. It was just a kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The week following Friday night Victoria can't seem to stop thinking about what happened, and the fact that she keeps running into the source of her stress isn't really helping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai hai!  
> I'm glad you all enjoyed chapter 1 enough to come back!  
> This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading it!
> 
> <3

**Saturday 9:38AM**

Victoria opened her eyes and immediately groaned as she rolled over to avoid the far too bright sunlight. She rubbed her eyes before reluctantly opening them again to flail around for her phone, it wasn’t in its usual place under her pillow. Spotting her water bottle on the nightstand she opted to abandon her search and sat up grabbing for it since her mouth felt like a desert. After downing most of the contents the blonde laid back down, her head starting ache. “Ugh. fuck. Hangover” She patted around again looking for her phone a second time before she felt her clothes and looked down in confusion realising she was still fully dressed from the day before. “What the hell??” _“Why am I still dressed?”_ She pressed her palms into her eyes trying to fight through the headache and remember last night. She remembered a shitty email from her parents. She remembered drinking with her friends. She remembered them playing truth or dare and…  
“FUCK!” The blonde sat bolt upright in bed and clasped her hands over her mouth. Victoria Chase kissed Maxine Caulfield… No, Max Caulfield kissed her. Holy fuck did she kiss her. She gently touched her fingers to her lips, Max kissed her and she… liked it? The blonde yanked her hands away from her lips as if she’d been burned and buried them in the blankets. Absolutely not. There’s no way. It was just a kiss. That Max happened to be surprisingly good at. Which isn’t that surprising when she thought about it, Max is good at a lot of things. Like, photography, and playing guitar, and kis- _“Nope!! Not thinking about it. Where’s my fucking phone.”_ Victoria threw her blankets off her legs and found the elusive device near her feet. Retrieving it, she swung her feet to the floor while she unlocked her phone to check for messages. Hoping they might provide sufficient distraction from her thoughts.

**5 New Messages from: Tay**

**Tay:** _Victoria what’s going on??_

**Tay:** _Courtney made it to the toilet this time._

**Tay:** _V I didn’t see what happened Courtney was blocking the peephole the whole time._

__

**Tay:** _Victoria are you ok? Did that hipster freak hurt you??_

__

**Tay:** _I got Courtney into bed, I’m coming over in the morning to make sure you’re okay. If she hurt you or something I’m gonna kick her ass!_

Victoria smiled to herself. Taylor had always been a really great friend to her, ever since they’d met that first year at Blackwell. She played the minion part really well for kicks but in reality she was easily Victoria’s best friend. _“I should do something nice for her.”_

**Victoria:** _Tay chill I’m fine. Just kinda hungover._

__

**Victoria:** _Hey do you want to hit up Portland today? Visit your mom, get some food that isn’t the same old boring local stuff, shopping?_

Messages sorted Victoria got to her feet and strode to her closet to dig for her shower caddy and some fresh clothes. _“Because I need a fucking shower to clear my head of this shit.”_ Upon standing back up after retrieving her stuff her head throbbed from the momentarily forgotten hangover. _“Ugh. And maybe like, six advil too.”_

**Monday 10:27AM**

It’s not that Victoria hated World History. On the contrary, she very much loved learning about the fantastic artistic legacies of places like Italy, France, Japan, etc. The different styles and masters that have come from all over the world are absolutely fascinating to her. No what Victoria hated, was World History Class. Specifically her professor, who Victoria was sure had to have won an award for “World’s Most Boring and Monotone Voice”. She was almost convinced that his voice could be prescribed by doctors to treat insomnia. Not to mention, she had already read this chapter and taken notes on it. So in reality today’s lecture was just an entire waste of her time. She scoffed and turned her attention to her classmates, someone in this room had to be more entertaining than Professor Melatonin droning on at the front.  
Taylor was sitting next to her sharing the table, completely engrossed in the play script she was hiding in her history book. She didn’t usually let on about it but Taylor was very studious, usually finishing homework and essays the day they were assigned. Like Victoria she had already read today’s chapter so she seemed to be catching up on some of her theatre projects instead. A table over was Hayden, sitting by himself today _“Zach must still be out sick.”_ He seemed to be just as unimpressed as everyone else in the lecture, considering he was scrolling through facebook under the desk. He could probably stand to pay more attention though, considering the amount of red ink Victoria saw on the last test he got back.  
Turning her gaze the other direction the blonde immediately scoffed at the sight of Resident Hipster, Max Caulfield, also not paying any attention. Instead she seemed to be busying herself with writing in her journal? _“No, not writing, doodling?”_ Victoria rolled her eyes at the thought of what the waifish photographer could be doodling in the margins of her book. _“Probably an analog camera, or squirrels, or something equally hipster.”_ She craned her neck slightly to peek at the drawing, not wanting to appear too interested. Surprisingly it was nothing that she had previously guessed and Victoria instead saw a partially finished drawing of a blue butterfly. _“Huh… it’s not bad honestly.”_ She watched the brunette shading the doodle lightly before bringing her pen up to her mouth to chew on it. And Victoria suddenly found herself staring at Max’s lips. _“They were so soft.”_ The blonde realised at some point she had reached her hand up and touched her fingers to her own lips. She could swear that she felt the tingling sensation from the hipster’s chapstick. _“Fuck why is my heart racing???”_ Max took her pen out of her mouth to continue her drawing, biting her lip in concentration while she did so. Victoria felt her breath hitch and it must have been loud enough for the girl to notice because she looked up and locked eyes with the blonde. The corner of her mouth tipped up into a small smile and she gave the taller girl the slightest of waves with her fingers. Victoria turned her head away fast enough that if she hadn’t already been panicking at the situation she might have been concerned about whiplash. Victoria Chase, the Queen Bee of Blackwell had definitely just been caught staring by Max Caulfield. _“Shit!”_ Her hand was practically in her mouth and she was probably sporting some dumbstruck expression as well. And it really wasn’t helping that her heart was beating a mile a minute. _“I need to get out of here right now.”_

“Professor, I need to go to the nurse’s office!” she declared practically knocking her chair over as she rapidly stood. 

The man turned from his writings on the board to look at her. “Are you alright Miss Chase?” 

Victoria swallowed her heart back into her chest from where she was certain it was trying to escape. “No sir, I’m having chest pains, I think I need to lie down.” 

He seemed to evaluate her for a second before concluding she was telling the truth. “Well alright, I’ll send your homework assignment for the day with one of your classmates. Feel better soon.” 

“Thank you sir.” She scooped up her bag and purse in her arms and stormed out of the room, hoping that no one other than Max had seen her staring. _“What the fuck is going on with me?!”_

**Tuesday 4:40PM**

Victoria strode down the windowed hallway towards the south exit of the main building, heading back to her dorm. The sunlit hall was usually very pretty and any other day she might even consider it good photo lighting, but right now she was engrossed rereading texts from Taylor. 

**Tay:** _V are you okay???_

__

**Tay:** _I went to the nurse’s office and she said you were never there._

Taylor’s concern made Victoria smile a little, she was a really good friend. Victoria not answering her texts meant Taylor showed up at her dorm room yesterday afternoon to check on her. After some considerable effort on her part she managed to convince her friend that she was fine and probably just had low blood sugar or something. After which Courtney was invited over and the girls made a night of takeout and shitty Netflix movies. She thought herself lucky that she had such caring friends. Taylor’s next text however, from earlier this morning, was far more heart-wrenching. 

**Tay:** _V… it's my mom. The hospital called and said she isn’t doing so great. I’m going up to Portland to see her. I’m scared V…_

Victoria had immediately walked out of her class and skipped the next one as well to call Taylor while she rode to Portland. She had also sent a flower arrangement to the hospital, and Courtney was on her way up to bring their friend a suitcase of clothes and things. Realistically her mom would be fine, but she was still worried, which meant her friends were worried. _“I wish I was better at comforting her. I always feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, or I’m not doing enou-.”_ The blonde’s train of thought was catastrophically derailed when she heard the telltale click and whir of a Polaroid and looked up from her phone in time to narrowly avoid colliding with the ONE person she did not want to see right now. Stopping just short of almost knocking the shorter girl to the floor Victoria opened her mouth to lay into the hipster but Max turned to look up at the taller girl and anything she was going to say was just gone. The brunette might as well have been Medusa because Victoria was paralyzed when Max’s eyes met hers. Huge doe eyes, a deep blue like the ocean, which seemed an accurate comparison because the taller girl felt like she was drowning in them. The sunlight coming through the windows, shining off of them, making them so much more vibrant than they already were. She was absolutely stunned, words failed her, her breath left her, her heart betrayed her with its panicked beating again. 

“Uhhh, Victoria?” Max’s words shook her out of her stupor. The shorter girl lowered her camera, a small look of concern on her face, “Are you okay?” 

The blonde realised she’d just been staring at the girl, point blank, for waaaaay too long. She practically jumped back out of the hipster’s personal space. “I- uh..” She swallowed down the sudden panic in her voice and cleared her throat trying to make her words work. “Fuck Smallfield! Watch where you’re...standing…” Victoria opened and closed her mouth once or twice trying to say something more coherent and intimidating than her stupid comeback to Max’s admittedly very genuine question. When nothing came to her she snapped her mouth closed and powered right past the girl as fast as she could without actually running. She hurried back to her dorm and dropped her bags before face planting on the bed and screaming into her pillow, heart still beating like a jackhammer. 

**Thursday 10:50 PM**

Victoria sat at her desk with her knees up rereading over her critical analysis paper for English class. She was thankful that she at least got to pick the subject of her paper, she wasn’t particularly fond of _Death of a Salesman,_ Arthur Miller was too dry in her opinion. Plus she’d already read it in middle school so Mrs. Hoida let her choose another book from the list that they wouldn’t be covering. And in her opinion _The Handmaid’s Tale_ was far more interesting, both to read and write about. The paper was finished at this point, she just needed to add her references. She pushed her glasses up onto her head to rub at her eyes before taking them off and laying them down. She glared at the offending object on her desk. She hated them, and she hated that she had to wear them to function most days. “Aura migraines resulting from Acute Digital Eye Strain” is what her doctor called it. Now the blonde couldn’t spend more than twenty minutes staring at a computer screen or tv without the specialized glasses. Otherwise she’d end up having to hide from the brightness of the world under her duvet while her brain felt like it was leaking out her ears. She shuddered at the thought, it had been over a year since her last one and she was not eager to relive it. _“Worse than any hangover”_ She stared at the glasses again, she hated them, but she was still grateful for them. _“At least mom and dad sprung for a nice pair.”_ With a sigh she picked the red and white Armani frames up off the desk and went back to her paper. She scrolled to the bottom of the paper to start typing out her references when she heard the strumming of a guitar. 

“Ugh” Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose _“Not tonight Caulfield please”_ She’d admit that her neighbor was pretty good at playing but she wasn’t really in the mood to listen to the hipster work her way through a collection of indie songs, this week had been too weird and stressful and she just wanted to finish her paper so she could fall asleep to her own music. _“I don’t really want to go over there and face her right now. Maybe if I toss a shoe at her do-”_

_“To all of you..”_

“Is that…” Victoria looked in the direction of the room across the hall, almost like she was trying to peer through the walls, into the room beyond. It was very quiet but she heard it. _“Is she… singing?”_

_“American girls, it's sad to. Imagine a world without you.”_

The blonde felt her jaw slowly fall open. _“I didn’t know she could sing… she’s never done it before.”_

_“American girls I'd like to Be part of the world around you.”_

Victoria was almost mesmerised by the music coming from the other room. _“It's really… good. She has a- a really nice singing voice.”_

_“Driving a car by the seaside Watching the world from the bright side”_

She swallowed the lump in her throat that she didn’t notice before, and her stomach started twisting in a knot. _“It’s really...It’s really sweet but she almost…”_

_“I wish I had…_

_“She kind of sounds like she’s…”_

_“an American…”_

_“Sad? Why does she sound sad?”_ The blonde’s brows furrowed and a feeling of mild concern washed over her. 

_“Girlfriend…”_

_“Oh…”_ The song petered out and Victoria suddenly found herself wishing it wasn’t over. Her heart clenched at the deeper thought of what just happened. _“She’s lonely…”_ Max Caulfield, arguably one of the nicest, most endearing people she’d ever met, was lonely. And suddenly tears started to well up in her eyes. _“Maybe if I didn’t bully her so much she'd be more willing to put herself out there and meet people. God why am I such a bitch to her… she doesn’t deserve it.”_ She took her glasses back off and put her head in her hands. She never would have expected to be crying over Max Caulfield. But here she was, quietly sobbing at her desk on a Thursday night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you all liked chapter 2!  
> I'll see you next week for the last chapter!
> 
> For Reference the song Max is singing is "To All of You" by Syd Matters  
> <3


	3. It's Just Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria finds herself alone on a Friday night with no where to go and considers inviting someone over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooo okay.  
> Hai everyone!  
> This chapter was a lot longer than I expected it to be. It's longer than both of the other chapters together.  
> Honestly I considered splitting it into two chapters but my friend who's been following this fic said "Steph I swear to god if you split chapter 3 and make me wait ANOTHER week I will break quarantine, buy a plane ticket, and fly to your state to kick your ass."  
> So this is for you Kranky!  
> There wasn't really a logical place to split it anyway.  
> But I hope you guys like the last chapter! I worked really hard on it!
> 
> <3

**Friday 6:15 PM**

Victoria laid on her couch staring at the ceiling, entirely bored out of her mind. There was no party to go to tonight and both of her usual crew were out of town. Taylor was understandably, still in Portland with her mom who was thankfully doing better. And Courtney had apparently run off to spend the whole weekend with her new boytoy. Leaving the blonde to fend for herself for the next three days. She huffed, “stupid Courtney and her stupid boyfriend.” She sat up and sighed at her predicament. _“I mean like, I’m happy for her and all, but fuck its so dead here.”_ She groaned, flopping unceremoniously back onto the couch. _“I guess I could hang out with someone else right? Who would even want to hang out with me anyway? Dana and Juliet are probably still mad at me, Kate’s afraid of me, and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever actually talked to Alyssa.”_ she sighed, scratching at her freshly cleaned pixie cut. With no plans for the evening she opted for a nice shower after class and now she was lounging around in comfy clothes.  
There was one other person she could ask, but if she were being honest with herself she was kind of avoiding her. _“Would she actually say yes if I asked? I mean, I guess I could try right?”_ Victoria rolled over to grab her phone and started sorting through her contact list. _“Do I even have her num- Oh…”_ she grimaced at the contact name, **Hipster Loser.** “Ugh, okay changing that right now.” Edit sorted she fired off a simple text before setting her phone back down on the couch.

 **Victoria:** _Hey_

She didn’t have to wait too long before she felt the device buzz with a new message.

 **Caulfield:** _Hey Victoria._

 **Caulfield:** _What’s up?_

She paused staring at her phone, trying to think of a reply. _“What do I even say? How do you have a normal conversation with someone you’ve only ever been a bitch to…”_ The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh, staring back up at the ceiling. _“I mean, fuck it honesty would probably work right? I’ve come this far anyway…”_

 **Victoria:** _Are you busy?_

 **Caulfield:** _I mean. Not really._

 **Caulfield:** _Why what’s up?_

Victoria stared up at her phone while she typed out a reply and deleted it, then typed out another and deleted it as well. She went through message after message deciding that they were too curt or too rambling or too everything before she dropped her phone and drug her hands down her face, groaning in frustration. “Why is this so hard? It’s just hanging out right? Why am I freaking out about this?” _“Because I’m worried she’ll say no… because she has every right to…”_ She let out a long sigh before picking her phone back up and trying again.

 **Victoria:** _Do you want to come over and watch a movie or something? I’m bored and no one is around._

For some reason her face felt hot and her heart was being weird again. She locked her phone and was about to set it down when it buzzed in her hand.

 **Caulfield:** _Yeah sure_

She smiled slightly to herself and was in the process of typing back when another text came through.

 **Caulfield:** _Have you eaten yet?_

The blonde narrowed her eyes at the screen in confusion.

 **Victoria:** _No why?_

Instead of a reply she was surprised by a knock at the door and suddenly realised that she had been so consumed with the process of inviting her neighbor over that she hadn’t even thought about anything past that. She hopped up and dashed over to the mirror to appraise herself. She quickly brushed her fingers through her hair looking over the rest of herself. “PJs and no make-up, real nice Chase. Ugh” _“Whatever, it’s not like she’s going to judge me. At least I’m wearing lip gloss.”_ She quietly skipped back over to the couch trying not to question why she was thinking about the status of her lips and pretended to busy herself with her phone before calling back to the door. “It’s open!”

The door swung open lightly and the girl in question walked in with her trademark messenger bag and a large flat box. She looked around the room, taking in the space for probably the first time. She opened her mouth to say something but her beacon-like blue eyes landed on Victoria and she tilted her head in confusion.

The taller girl suddenly felt self-conscious at the scrutiny and snapped at the brunette. “What?!”

To her credit, Max seemed unphased at the prickliness and calmly answered. “I just never expected I’d see the day when the Queen Bee of Blackwell was wearing a hoodie.

She scoffed and put on her best air of entitlement before responding. “Laugh it up Caulfield, this hoodie costs more than everything you’re wearing.” Victoria neglected to mention that her hoodie cost so much because it was limited edition merch from her favorite anime, and she had to actually go to Japan to get it. Instead she opted to question the other girl about the box in her hands. “Is that a pizza?”

Brief confusion crossed her face before she looked down and seemingly just now remembered what she was holding. “Uhh. Oh yeah! I had just picked it up when I got your message so I thought I’d just bring it over if you hadn’t eaten yet.”

 _“Well that was really… sweet.”_ The taller girl shook that thought out of her head immediately and tried to regain her aloof composure. “Oh. Thanks. You can set it on the table I guess.” 

“Okay cool.” Max walked over setting down her bag and the pizza before semi-flopping onto the couch next to Victoria. 

The blonde watched her as she opened the box to grab a slice and was caught off-guard by the pizza. “Is that a... breakfast pizza??” 

The girl paused mid bite and lowered her food before sheepishly answering. “Uh. Yeah… I really like it. Sorry.”

“No no it’s… fine.” Victoria felt the sudden desire to reassure her clash with her usual antagonistic demeanor. “I mean… it’s a little weird though right? A breakfast pizza at six thirty on a Friday?”

Max shrugged. “I like breakfast food. No matter what time it is honestly.” 

The taller girl watched her neighbor return to her pizza and realised she needed something else to focus on before she ended up staring at the girl's mouth again. Looking at the box she questioned whether she was hungry enough to try this weird concoction. _“I mean, it’s not that far off from a frittata or something. Right?”_ With a bit of trepidation she grabbed a piece from the box and took a bite, finding it, not bad actually. “Alright Maxine, I’ll admit, this is pretty good.”

The brunette swallowed her food stating matter of factly “It’s Max, never Maxine.” followed by an almost adorable chuckle.

Victoria smirked, “Caulfield, you’re a guest in my house and if I want to call you Maxine then I will.” She was aiming for snark but it ended up coming out sounding more… playful? Honestly she was kind of enjoying this less hostile back and forth.

Max laughed. “Whatever you say. ‘Tori.’”

Victoria wasn’t sure what caught her off guard more, the nickname itself of the playful way Max’s voice seemed to punctuate it. Either way she choked on her pizza and after a minute or two of coughing she managed to choke out a sentence. “I’m sorry?! Did you just call me ‘Tori’?!”

The blue-eyed girl looked almost smug in her success at flustering her neighbor. “You call me Maxine, I get to call you Tori.” She was about to take another bite of her pizza when her expression changed to something more recognizable as her typically nervous disposition returned suddenly. “I mean… If that’s oka-”

“It’s fine!” Victoria reeled herself back in before continuing. “I mean… you can call me Tori. It’s… nice.” After a second Max smiled at her and went back to eating and Victoria decided to turn her gaze to literally anything other than Max. _“What the fuck was that?? She gives you a nickname and you completely short circuit? Why does my face feel so hot?? What the fuck is this girl doing that’s making me freak out so much? I need something else to focus on.”_ Noticing her tv she opened her mouth to speak and was relieved that what came out was at least mostly composed. “Did you want to watch something? I have Netflix and...stuff.” Before she could mentally kick herself for “and stuff” the other girl responded.

“I’m cool with whatever. Tv shows, horror movies, comedy, anything.” She smirked again before continuing. “We could also watch some anime if you want.”

The blonde felt herself short-circuit for the second time in five minutes “What?! Anime?? I don’t.. How did you… I mean-”

Max cut her off before she could ramble herself any further into a hole. “Tori I’ve heard enough Elfen Lied and Evangelion coming from your room to know what kind of stuff you like.” 

Victoria was sure her whole face was a significant shade of red as she covered it with her hands and leaned back onto the couch trying to hide behind her knees. “Oh my goooood! If you heard it that means Kate and Brooke definitely did too!”

“Maybe not.”

The blonde peeked through her fingers at Max. “How could they not?!”

The brunette shrugged. “Brooke spends most of her time in the dorms wearing those like, hella noise canceling headphones. And even if Kate did hear it, I don’t think she’s all that familiar with anime.”

Victoria let out what felt like the longest sigh of her life and flopped her hands down on the couch and stared at her feet. “Uggggh fine. Do you want to watch Madoka? I’d been meaning to start it anyway.”

“Sure. That sounds fun.”

The taller girl looked up to see Max smiling at her and it made her face feel hot again, but it also seemed kind of nice. _“I kind of like when she smiles at me…”_

**Friday 7:20 PM**

Thirty minutes into Madoka and Victoria could already feel pressure building behind her eyes from the strain of the screen. She pinched the bridge of her nose squinting her eyes shut letting out a sigh. Trying to fight back against the oncoming migraine. _“Fuck! Why did I suggest this? I can’t watch shit without my glasses.”_

As if she could read her mind Max spoke up. “Hey Tori are you okay? You’ve had your eyes closed for like 5 minutes. Is something wrong?”

“Yeah I’m fine... It’s just-” Victoria looked over at the other girl and genuine concern in her eyes threw off her lie. _“Stop showing off you idiot, she won’t care.” _She let out another sigh and looked down at her feet, ears burning with mild embarrassment. “Okay no. I’m not okay honestly. I just… Ugggh! Fuck it you won’t care!” She threw her hands up and got off the couch to stalk over to her desk. “It’s not like every other part of my carefully crafted image hasn’t already fallen down tonight.” She stated as she pulled her glasses out of the top drawer and put them on. The blonde exhaled as she turned around slowly, eyes cast downward, fingers worrying at the hem of her hoodie. “I have to wear glasses to look at screens… or else I’ll get migraines.” She stood there staring at her manicured toenails for what felt like an hour before Max spoke.__

____

“I think they look nice.” 

____

Victoria looked up at her neighbor. She was smiling at her again. Her blue eyes sparkling in the setting sun. “Yeah?” Her voice was quiet, unsure. 

____

“Yeah. They really like... “ The brunette seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “They suit you. Give you this kind of, inquisitive/intelligent vibe.” 

____

The blonde smiled back at her, blushing slightly at the compliment. “Thanks Max.” She made her way back to the couch and grabbed a pillow to hug. She didn’t look at Max but she could feel the girl looking at her. “And thanks for like, not giving me shit about it.” 

____

“Do people normally give you shit about your glasses?” she said from her end of the couch. 

____

Victoria kept looking at the screen, though not really paying attention to the show. “Courtney and Taylor don’t. Nate did once but he was pretty good about it.” She sighed before continuing, the next part of this story would be considerably more vulnerable. But honestly at this point she felt like she could tell Max anything and she wouldn’t be judged for it. ”My parents are another story though… They don’t say anything directly but I know it’s just another way I’m a disappointment to them… Another way I’ve failed to be the perfect daughter, the perfect Chase. I just-” Her thoughts were interrupted by the click and whir of a Polaroid and she turned wide-eyed in horror to see Max pointing a camera at her, a fresh picture ejecting from it. Her horror quickly turned to rage as she set on the girl across the couch. “Max! What the fuck!! I pour my heart out and you take a picture of me??” 

____

The brunette snatched the picture from the camera and set it aside before switching to damage control. “Tori wait. I’m sorry. It was a good shot and had to do it.” 

____

Victoria lunged toward the other girl grabbing for the picture. “Maxine! Give me the photo!” 

____

To her credit Max was quick on her feet, already off the couch and backing out of Victoria’s range before she could grab it. “Wait Tori, it’s like you said in class the other day. Portraits work best when the subject is completely comfortable or unaware of the camera.” 

____

Ignoring the fact that Max apparently pays enough attention to her in class to recite back things she says, Victoria hopped off the couch and stalked over to the blue-eyed girl, backing her into the desk. Using her most intimidating voice and holding out her hand. “Maxine. Photo now.” 

____

Completely cornered at this point, the shorter girl sighed and handed over the polaroid. “Just, please don’t tear it up.” 

____

Victoria snatched it out of her hand but didn’t retreat, still staring the girl down. “You just took a picture of me in glasses and frumpy clothes with no makeup on! I’m absolutely going to tear-” She was completely stopped in her tracks upon looking down at the polaroid. “Holy shit…” _“It’s amazing…”_ She plopped down into her desk chair. She needed to sit down. It was a side on shot of her completely backlit by the setting sun. The result was a halo of golden light around her blonde head and a sharp glint off her glasses. She looked comfortable, beautiful, ethereal, almost angelic. She turned her eyes back towards the other girl who at some point made her way back to the couch. “Max… this is amazing…” She looked back down at the polaroid, touching it gently. “You made me look…” 

____

“Beautiful?” 

____

Her eyes snapped back to the brunette, mouth slightly agape, stunned. 

____

Max shrugged. “You always look beautiful Tori. Whether or not you’re wearing make-up and designer clothes.” 

____

Victoria blushed slightly and turned away, wiping at her eyes that were beginning to water. “Thanks Max… you’re a nicer friend than I honestly deserve.” 

____

Max’s chuckle shook the blonde from her thoughts. “Well that’s a nice thought.” 

____

She narrowed her green eyes in confusion “What is?” 

____

The blue-eyed girl smiled at her “Friends.” 

____

Victoria smiled back at her. “Yeah. That sounds nice.” She looked down at the polaroid. It really was an amazing shot, Max was right. She held the picture up looking back to Max. “Can I keep this?” 

____

“Go for it!” She seemed significantly less nervous now that Victoria wasn’t angry anymore. “Now come back over here so we can restart this episode.” 

____

The blonde snickered as she got up and made her way back to the couch. 

____

**Friday 9:40 PM**

____

Victoria yawned and stretched at the end of another episode. They’d been through six or seven at this point. Max had left a little while ago and returned with some popcorn, and that had been thoroughly demolished. She had to admit she’d been enjoying herself, she was definitely having fun, they both were. The show was entertaining enough and they’d occasionally tease each other about something. Max had even let her hold her precious polaroid and she surprised the brunette by snapping a quick picture of her, which Max stubbornly admitted was good, despite the taller girl’s complete lack of experience with an instant camera. It was a good friday. As the next episode started she reached up with the remote to skip the intro before Max stopped her. 

____

“Hang on a second Tori” she said, starting to dig through her bag. 

____

She let the intro play curious what the shorter girl was searching for. “What’s up Max?” 

____

“I just need..hah!” seemingly having found what she was looking for she held a small tube high in the air victoriously. “Sorry I just needed my chapstick for a sec.” 

____

Victoria’s breath caught in her throat as she watched Max apply her chapstick before pursing her lips together. She could feel her heartbeat taking off again. And now she was thinking about Max’s lips again. _“I wonder if that’s the same chapstick…”_ She forced herself to exhale the breath she was apparently holding. And ripped her eyes away from Max’s mouth. 

____

Unfortunately she wasn’t subtle enough because the girl apparently noticed. “You okay Tori?” 

____

She kept her green eyes locked on the screen though she wasn’t paying a single bit of attention as the entirety of her mind was annoyingly thinking about how soft Max’s lips were. _“I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. It’s not fair! How was she so fucking good at kissing!? Actually… fuck this.”_ “What the fuck Max?!” 

____

Her blue eyes went wide and her hands were raised defensively as she was completely caught off guard by the sudden outburst. “Uh what?” 

____

Victoria was going full rant at this point, turning towards the smaller girl and pointing a finger at her threateningly “You fucking kissed me last friday and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it this whole fucking week! How the fuck did you do that?? How does someone who is, no offense, at the bottom of the social food chain, learn how to kiss like that?!?!” 

____

Max stared at her in wide eyed silence before she broke and started absolutely laughing. 

____

“I’m fucking serious Caufield!” Victoria stood up, gesturing exasperatedly with her hands. “What the fuck!?” 

____

The brunette managed to reign in her laughter and responded. “Wait wait, is that why you ran out of History in a panic on Monday??” 

____

“YES!” She said, throwing her hands up. “Where the fuck did you learn to kiss like that???” 

____

Max chuckled, trying her best to contain her giggles. “Tori. I’m not just some virginal waif you know? I have dated people before." 

____

“So have I!” she was throwing her hands around again. “I’ve made out with plenty of guys and I’ve never had… ‘THAT’ happen before.” 

____

The shorter girl’s laugh tapered off and her look shifted to something else Victoria couldn’t quite determine “Wait what do you mean? Never had what happen before?” 

____

The blonde gestured vaguely towards the room. “That… I don’t know. The fact that I can’t stop thinking about it. The fact that my heart won’t stop racing every time I see you. The fact that I can still vividly remember what your fucking chapstick tastes like!” She turned back to the other girl. “What did you do?” 

____

Max looked genuinely confused by the situation. “Uhhhh. Nothing… That’s just… that’s just how a theoretically ‘good’ kiss should feel.” A thought seemed to cross her mind. “Wait hang on. You’ve kissed a bunch of guys… and the first time you EVER felt ANYTHING from a kiss, was when I kissed you?” 

____

“Yes!!” Victoria flopped back on to the couch. “So what the fuck happened?” 

____

Max stared at her for a minute. Her blue eyes seemed to be boring into her, she still had that questioning look on her face. Victoria felt like she was being scrutinized, or rather… evaluated? “Tori…” She seemed to be thinking very hard about her words. 

____

“Yeah?” The blonde was suddenly nervous and she wasn’t sure why. 

____

The blue-eyed girl opened her mouth to speak. She seemed to be thinking about something very seriously and trying to be careful, she’d almost say gentle, about what she said here. “Tori… Have you considered the possibility that… You may not be as interested in men as you think you are?” 

____

Victoria opened her mouth to retort but the entire weight of what Max just said suddenly came crashing down and she felt like the floor just fell out from under her. For the first time in a week her mind started moving faster than her racing heart as she thought back on so much of her life. Watching models at fashion shows and thinking about how beautiful they were. All of her boring, and basic and completely bland ex-boyfriends. The butterflies in her stomach when she had to get up and personal to direct a woman for a shoot. That time her eyes wandered a little too much when she passed Dana running one morning. And Max. This whole week. That kiss. Her lips… _“How did I miss that all this time…”_

____

“Hey. Tori.” The blue-eyed girl gently startled her from her thoughts. “Are you okay? Sorry I know that was kind of heavy to just drop on you like that.” 

____

She looked up at Max. Really looked at her, for the first time, she thought. Her genuine smile, filled with so much caring. Her gorgeous freckles, dusting her cheeks, like little stars dotting the sky. Her beautiful eyes, endless pools of calming blue. Her comfy posture, so open, so vulnerable. Completely comfortable around her neighbor despite all the past bitchiness on Victoria’s part. Max Caulfield was so sweet, and caring, and talented, and even beautiful. She was being so careful with Victoria and her heart felt like it was a bird fluttering beautifully, trying to fly. Not the panicked pounding from the past week that felt like the organ was running laps in her chest trying to win the kentucky derby. Just peace, and maybe a little giddiness. 

____

Victoria smiled nervously, stomach full of butterflies. “Max... I-I think I have a crush on you.” 

____

The brunette’s expression changed to one of slight surprise. And the quietest of “oh’s” escaped her mouth. 

____

The taller girl continued.”I think I must have for a while now but it was all just… misdirected, as bullying. Because I didn’t understand. And I’m sorry I put you through that. And I understand if you don’t like, feel the same way, or if you don’t want anything to do with me after today. But I like you, and I know that now. And I’m sorry that it took me so long to figure it out.” After Victoria had finished pouring her heart out she resigned herself to stare at her coffee table. Too afraid of Max’s reaction to her confession. As her eyes started to well up she felt a calloused hand on her cheek. Lifting her face up to look the girl across from her in the eyes, those brilliant blue eyes. Max was smiling at her. So, so warmly and it made Victoria smile back. 

____

“Hey Tori.” Max said quietly, brushing a tear away from Victoria’s cheek with her thumb. “Thank you for being so honest about yourself, and sharing this with me. I know it wasn’t easy. And truthfully... I like you too.” 

____

Victoria felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest and she inhaled deeply. Her whole being seemed light as a feather now. “Yeah?” She whispered. 

____

“Yeah.” The shorter girl replied before closing the distance between the two of them and softly pressing their lips together. It was a small kiss, and it was short. But it was sweet, and oh so tender. And Victoria honestly thought it was one of the best she’d ever had. 

____

Victoria rested her forehead against Max’s. Speaking softly, “So…” 

____

“Hmm?” The brunette almost vibrated as she started nuzzling the taller girl’s cheek. 

____

“So if…” it was definitely welcome but really distracting. “So if I like you. And you like me back…” 

____

“Yes Tori?” she stopped her nuzzling in favor of pressing small kisses to Victoria’s increasingly flushing cheek. 

____

This was really taking a toll on the blonde’s ability to concentrate, and her heartbeat had started racing again. But she wanted to finish her train of thought before this devolved any further. “Does this mean… are we… or I mean, can I…” 

____

Max had slowly made her way further up Victoria’s cheek, laying a trail of kisses until she was right next to Victoria’s ear before whispering. “Girlfriends?” 

____

Victoria’s eyes fluttered closed and she inhaled sharply, at this point talking was out the window so she just nodded her head slowly. The shorter girl pulled away, Victoria opened her eyes and green met blue. Max’s beautiful blue eyes stared into her. A sweet smile on her face. Her cheeks flushing the tiniest bit pink. She looked down at their hands, fingers entwined together. _“When did that happen?”_

____

Max gave her hand a gentle squeeze and The blonde’s eyes met hers again. “I’d really like that. If you’re okay with it?” 

____

_“If I’m okay with it?”_ Victoria was confused. _“Why wouldn’t I be? I just told her I liked her.”_ Staring back at the girl in front of her it dawned on her. The worried lilt in Max’s voice, the pounding of her heartbeat Victoria could feel in her fingertips, the hopeful look in her deep blue eyes. _“She’s just as nervous as I am right now. It’s probably taken every ounce of bravery she has to get her to this point. She wants this just as much as me...”_ Victoria opened her mouth to say something, but instead looked down at their hands again. Laced together, a perfect fit, as if they were made to be together. She looked back at the brunette. The hope in her eyes almost magnified, pleading. _“I think she needs me to take the lead… she might be all out of confidence.”_ The blonde closed her slightly agape mouth and set it in a wicked smirk. She felt like she had her feet back under her for the first time in a week. _“Confidence, is something I can definitely do.”_

Victoria let go of Max’s hand and the split second of hurt on the girl’s face was almost enough to make the taller girl lose her momentum. “Maxine Caulfield.” She planted a hand on either side of Max’s hips and leaned heavily into her space. Max started leaning away until she hit the arm of the couch and could go no further. _“Perfect.”_ Victoria kept pressing until she was inches away from Max’s face before whispering in the most sultry tone she could muster, “A girl tells you she likes you... And asks you if you want to be her girlfriend....” She licked her lips and bit down on the bottom one before continuing. “And you ask her if she’s okay with it?” 

“I-uhh” Max seemed to be having trouble focusing, probably a little caught off guard by the blonde’s change in demeanor. Her beautiful blues kept flitting back and forth between Victoria’s lips and the burning green eyes in front of her. 

“Hopefully this answers your question.” she whispered before leaning in to press her lips to Max’s. The brunette inhaled sharply before sweetly melting into the kiss, exhaling and releasing all the tension Victoria didn’t know she was holding in. She felt calloused hands grab her hips and that was all the incentive she needed to deepen the kiss. This wasn’t going to be like their first kiss. She wasn’t going to just be a dumbstruck bystander. This time she fully planned on being an active and, most definitely willing, participant. Her hands reached up and found purchase in Max’s soft hair, fingers combing through brown locks. Her breath hitched when the brunette suddenly pulled her up onto her lap, she felt Max’s fingertips slowly creep up her back under her hoodie. Victoria parted her lips, tentatively sliding her tongue over Max’s and made a pleasant noise when the shorter girl did the same. The taste and feeling of Max Caulfield’s tongue against hers was intoxicating. 

____

Victoria Chase never would have expected to spend her friday night making out with Max Caulfield of all people. But Max had a way of throwing off her expectations. And honestly, she was just fine with that. 

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading everyone!!  
> I hope you enjoyed both the last chapter, and the story as a whole.  
> I love their dynamic as a couple and was happy to add my own take on them to the fandom.  
> I'm very highly considering making a sequel to this.  
> If you have any questions I'm happy to answer them in the comments or on tumblr @the-sword-lesbian
> 
> <3


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